Arthur Bendixen, who like William White also left St. Vincent de Paul
Regional Seminary in disgrace over alleged sexual impropriety, has
resurfaced in Chicago, where he is executive director of a major homeless
program and a visiting professor at DePaul University, one of the largest
Catholic Colleges in the nation.

Bendixen, rector of the suburban Boynton Beach seminary from 1991 to 1993,
was suspended in February 1994, four months after the church received a
sexual abuse complaint against him.

A former St. Vincent priest has said Bendixen left the seminary to return to
Orlando in 1993 after three other priests quit in protest when two
investigations could not prove a Miami student's claim that Bendixen had
molested him. The attorney for the diocese said Bendixen insisted the
incident was a misunderstanding and the student admitted as much. Bendixen
maintained his innocence in several letters the diocese both before and
after his 1994 resignation.

In 1995, a former altar boy sued, alleging sexual abuse between 1982 and
1994 and alleging the diocese failed to recognize signs of Bendixen's sexual
activity. That case was settled, said the man's lawyer, Sheldon Stevens. He
said the seven others who alleged abuse by Bendixen between 1976 and 1979,
when they were between 10 and 13, all have settled with the Diocese of
Orlando. Orlando-area prosecutors decided they could not press criminal
charges because too much time had elapsed.

At the time the suit was filed in 1995, the Lima, Peru, native was already
working at Interfaith House, a center for homeless people in Chicago. The
group's Web page identifies him as Arturo Valdivia Bendixen, also a native
of Lima. Stevens confirmed Tuesday they are the same person.

Numerous calls Tuesday to the center, requesting comment from supervisors,
were not returned. A clerk did say Bendixen was off Tuesday. A call to a
number listed for an Arthur Bendixen in nearby Evanston, Ill., got no
answer.

Carol Brinati, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Orlando, said Tuesday an
Orlando reporter who visited Chicago had told her some of the board members
had said they were comfortable with Bendixen because he dealt only with
adults. Brinati did not know if Bendixen had told his Interfaith House
employers of his past. She said records managers at the diocese do not
recall any recent records checks.

At DePaul University, spokeswoman Denise Mattson said Tuesday the college
had only recently learned about the background of Bendixen, who she said has
been a part-time adjunct professor since 1996 and teaches "spirituality and
homelessness." She did not have details of the curriculum. She said Bendixen
has no course this quarter but that his students are at least 24 years old
and the average age is 36.

Mattson said DePaul has made no decision on Bendixen's future. But she said
she's not sure if Bendixen had an obligation to disclose allegations that
led to no criminal charges and a civil suit that was settled and wanted to
be fair to him. But she could not say whether Bendixen had a duty to reveal
he was forced out of a former job, especially one in the Catholic Church.

"Clearly within the context of what has come to light recently, we're
sensitive to the issue," she said from Illinois.